Just Like Always
by NCISgirl1527
Summary: Set six months after the series finale...time has gone by but the memory of the events surrounding her wedding have not faded, and Kate is finding it harder and harder to reconcile what happened. So she turns to the one person she can always trust to be there: Daniel.


_**So I just got a chance to watch the final episode of Perception, and I was…not happy…about how they chose to end things. Yes I would have liked Kate and Daniel to end up together but that is a separate issue. Among other things, I just find it really difficult to believe that Kate would have been able to walk away from what happened and not feel conflicted. All of which is to say that we may never get to see what happens, but this is pretty much how I image things would go…**_

_**Disclaimer: Not mine. **_

_**Spoilers: Run **_

_**Set: Six months or so after the events of the finale.**_

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Daniel looked away from the Cubs game he was watching and glanced first at his watch then at the door. It was nearly eleven o'clock. Who would be calling this late at night? He probably wouldn't even be awake right now if the Cubs hadn't gone into extra innings. He waited, wondering if he had imagined the sound.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Slowly Daniel stood up and walked over to the door. Then he hesitated with his hand on the knob. "Daniel, it's me. Please open the door," a familiar voice said from outside.

Daniel pulled the door open. "Kate?" he said surprised.

"Hey Daniel," she said, and he noticed how tired she sounded, "Can I come in?"

"What?" Daniel said, suddenly realizing he was blocking the door, "Yes. Of course." She stepped inside, and he closed the door behind her. "Can I get you anything?" he asked, still slightly baffled by her presence and noticing that she looked thinner, more worn than the last time he had seen her, "I think the kettle is still warm if you want some tea or—"

"Some tea would be nice," she said, giving him a small smile.

"Alright," Daniel told her, "You want to sit down, and I'll get that." She nodded and moved into the living room. Daniel walked into the kitchen and turned the burner under the kettle on to reheat the water to boiling. It was strange. He hadn't seen Kate outside of work in weeks, and their cases together had been growing fewer and further between. Suddenly the kettle whistled drawing him out of his thoughts and back to reality. He poured two cups full of water, added two tea bags from the pile on the counter, and carried the mugs into the living room.

"So what's going on?" Daniel asked, "Is there a new case?"

Kate shook her head. "No," she said, holding her cup in both hands taking comfort in the heat, "it's not work related." She paused. "It's personal."

"Is everything okay?" Daniel asked, his own tea sitting forgotten on the coffee table.

"No," she told him, shaking her head, "No, its not, and I thought it would be. I thought I would get better if I just gave it time, but it's not getting better, and I don't know what to do."

"Kate, I—" Daniel started not sure what to say or even entirely sure what she was saying.

"The wedding and the kidnapping," she explained, sensing his uncertainty, "everything's different, and I thought this feeling would go away but it hasn't. Daniel, I've spent my whole career trying to make sure justice was carried out the right way, and now I'm in the middle of this huge cover up. It's not that I don't appreciate what you guys did for me, but I feel like I'm living a lie and it's killing me."

Daniel looked at her. He didn't know what to say. They had drifted apart the past few months, and he had assumed he was the only one struggling to come to terms with what had happened. It was only now that he realized how much it had been eating at Kate too.

"The worst part is," her voice was quieter, "that there's no way out. I have to live with this terrible secret because if I don't the three people I care about most will go to jail, and I won't be able to live with that either."

"Have you told Donny you feel this way?" Daniel asked her.

"He doesn't want to hear it," she told him looking down at her lap, "I tried to talk to him a few months ago, and he said if I gave it time it would be okay, and I would realize that we did the right thing. I want to believe him, and I gave it time, but I'm still not sure." She looked up at him. "Did we do the right thing?"

Daniel looked back at her and sighed. "I don't know," he told her honestly.

"There are some days that I wish they had just killed me," she said quietly, looking down at the mug she was still holding in her hands, "at least we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Don't say that," Daniel told her, setting the mug on the coffee table and taking her hands in his, "you don't mean that."

Kate sighed. "You're right," she conceded, "I don't. I just feel so trapped. I haven't been able to eat or sleep for months, but Donny and my dad don't seem bothered." Her voice trailed off again. "It's ironic I guess," she told him, "my dad said he didn't want to go to jail because he didn't want to leave me all alone, but the truth is that I've never felt more alone in my whole life."

Daniel didn't even hesitate. He reached out and pulled her into a hug, holding her close to him and stroking her long brown hair. "You are not alone," he told her, "and we are going to figure this out. We'll make it right."

Kate didn't say anything for a long time. She just leaned her head against his chest, and let him hold her. She could hear his heart beating, strong and steady, and she wondered why she had waited so long before coming to talk to him. He always understood her; he was her rock. He always had been.

"I'm not sure if this is something we can make right," she said finally, "everything is such a mess."

"Well," Daniel said, still stroking her hair, "That's not exactly new, and we'll figure it out together."

"Just like always," she said quietly.

"Just like always," he repeated

_**I feel better. I'm still not happy, but I feel slightly better. Leave a review if it suits you. Thanks for reading!**_


End file.
